Why Mariah Carey Got Millions From Ex Fiancé James Packer Despite Never Getting Married

Locking down a solid prenup is a must for A-list celebrity couples looking to protect their assets if they split up — or, in Mariah Carey's case, if she's "inconvenienced" on her way to the altar. After the singer's contentious breakup with Australian businessman James Packer, she reportedly requested quite a heavy payout from her former fiancé, including millions of dollars, a Calabasas home, and her $10 million engagement ring. 

Inside sources who spoke to Entertainment Tonight differ on whether Carey and Packer's prenuptial agreement was ever finalized, with some insisting it was and worth $50 million, while others asserted those figures and that document never existed. The inconvenience fee in question, one source explained, was because Packer "moved her across the country and relocated her and her kids. He made promises to her that weren't fulfilled."

Carey's requests were not taken in kind, with TMZ reporting in November 2016 that Packer was firmly against paying his ex-fiancée anything following their split. "If he pays her anything, it will be to shut her up and get her out of his hair," TMZ's sources said.

Entertainment Tonight's sources revealed that in addition to her $50 million inconvenience fee, "Loverboy" singer Mariah Carey wanted her ex, James Packer, to buy her a new home in Calabasas for the trouble of moving her and her family to Los Angeles to be with him. She also demanded to keep her massive diamond engagement ring, once appraised at $10 million, which she switched from her ring finger to her middle finger. The actual settlement Carey and Packer agreed upon was slightly different.

Per The Blast, Packer agreed to pay Carey an undisclosed amount of cash and let her keep the engagement ring. The Blast's sources said the actual value of the diamond ring was less than the formerly stated $10 million and that between the settlement cash and Carey's ring, she walked away from the breakup with somewhere between $5 and $10 million. Packer did not buy Carey a Calabasas home as she requested.

ET reported in 2017 that the exes hadn't spoken to each other in over a year, which is unsurprising given their tumultuous breakup. Carey and Packer split shortly after a contentious fight in Greece in which Carey accused Packer of doing "something really bad" with the singer's assistant, per Page Six. At the time, an inside source told the website that Packer "isn't in the best space mentally, he's kind of checked out, and that put a strain on their relationship."

If Mariah Carey's demands for millions of dollars in assets from her ex-fiancé James Packer makes it seem like she'd done this before, then you'd be correct. The singer began dating the Australian businessman the same year Carey reached an actual divorce settlement with her ex-husband, Nick Cannon. Carey and Cannon, who had twins Monroe and Moroccan Cannon during their six-year marriage, filed for divorce two years prior in 2014.

However, Carey's payout from her divorce from Cannon proved far less profitable than the one she demanded from her billionaire boo Packer. According to TMZ, the only money exchanged in Carey and Cannon's divorce settlement was an agreement for Cannon to invest $5,000 a month into a trust for the twins. Carey is not required to invest in the fund and has primary custody of Moroccan and Monroe. The singer did agree to pay for Cannon's lodging and travel expenses when he comes to visit the kids, and Cannon walked away with the title to a 2012 Ferrari.

For Packer's part, he said that his brief relationship with Carey was a mistake. "I was at a low point in my personal life," Packer told The Australian (via People). "She was kind, exciting, and fun. Mariah is a woman of substance. But it was a mistake for her and a mistake for me."